There was a special visitor in Alexis Darro’s Life Skills class at Crispell Middle School recently. Dr. Charles Spero, a retired pediatric orthopedic surgeon, came in to talk to the class about what a pediatric orthopedic surgeon does for children. He used a slideshow and explained just what his job entailed.
He explained that there are many ways broken bones can be fixed, including with pins, rods and steel plates. He even had x-rays showing details. Dr. Spero did a demonstration of how to cast an ankle and a wrist, which the class participated in. The students were fascinated!
Dr. Spero has a very impressive professional resume. He was the former chief of pediatric orthopedics in three hospitals in his career, including Downstate, Long Island College and Kings County hospitals. He helped develop a lab for Gait Analysis to study how children walk and use the data to make surgical corrections. He has written several studies in the American Journal of Orthopedics over the years and taught medical students at Downstate University.
Pretty notable! However, there was one more thing that was very extraordinary about Dr. Spero – he is Ms. Darro’s father! She was thrilled and honored to have him come and talk to her class.